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Apple Confidential

Based on all the products they have put out and how far ahead of the pack Apple has been in innovation, it is hard to believe that that not only was Apple once solely based on PC computers, but they at one time appeared to be a company that was literally dying out. Times have definitely changed as far as that goes and while new versions of the Mac continue to roll out, there’s no question that in its recent history Apple has definitely branched out above and beyond the regular computer market.

The 1998 iMac
The iMac might not be remembered much now, but this was the great comeback story for Apple. Steve Jobs, returned as interim-CEO, worked with Jonathan Ive to produce the iMac, which blew away all previous computer systems made up to that point. The unique design and modern technology was a huge hit and brought Apple back into the mainstream conversation when it came to computers.

iMovie
The release of digital movie editing software all the way back in 1999 with iMovie showed how far ahead of the curve Apple was once again, and not only provided to that point unparalleled support but also helped direct how technology would change and grow from that point on.

While it is nearly impossible to take all the influence that Apple computers have had on our culture and the modern world we live in and whittle it down to a few snippets, nonetheless there are some extremely important dates that anyone who is a fan of the company’s history will need to know if they want to be familiar with the story. One can view more on any given website regarding Apple history, but here’s the basics.

April 1, 1976 – Apple computers was founded by Ron Wayne, Steve Jobs, and Steve “The Woz” Wozniak. Wayne would later sell his shares of the company back to Jobs and Woz before Apple would officially incorporate.

July 1976 – The Apple I, invented by Wozniak, was released to the public. Originally Woz had to hand-make each computer, and the retail selling price was just short of $700, quite a price for the mid-seventies. Nonetheless orders kept coming in.

January 3, 1977 – Apple incorporates with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak running the company. Funding was provided by multi-millionaire Mike Markkula, who would help with the actual business growth and setup.

July 1977 – The drastically improved and new Apple II was released, capturing attention because it offered both open architecture for programming and cell based color graphics – things none of the competition had managed to provide up to that point.

April 1980 – Apple went public with an IPO, originally trading at only $10 a share.

January 1984 – Apple would bring Jobs’s Macintosh public. Later shortened to Mac, this would become the base setup by which all future advancements would be made.

1985 – After an argument with the board Steve Jobs was ousted from his own company. While Apple would do okay without him at first, the company would hit major roadblocks going into the 1990s, at one point grossly failing and giving up most of their market share.

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were primarily responsible for the design and production of the first Apple computer created for sale in 1976. However, their first triumph was not to be highly successful in the public eye. In fact, only 200 of these machines were ever built for sale.

It was only with the introduction of the Apple II computer that their innovation started to achieve some success. The increased graphics and introduction of color made this second generation of Apple computers far more popular as a personal computer to the general public. The design followed the same features as the Apple one with a keyboard and monitor all in one box.

Their success was however short lived with growing competition grabbing the greater market share after the introduction of the Apple III. Steve Jobs’ insistence that the fan be removed from the complete model meant that overheating became a problem. Several models were recalled, resulting in near catastrophe.

However, work continued on improving the Apple III design while at the same time, separate research was being made into the manufacture of an entirely new design. The Macintosh 128k was introduced in 1984 and while initial interest was high, sales soon began to fall. (more…)

Apple Computers is of the largest and most widely renowned companies in the entire world, but it wasn’t always that way. In fact, there was a time when it seemed like Apple Computer was almost certainly going to fold as mainstream PCs took the market moving forward. One Simpsons episode from the late 1990’s even had a back and forth joke to this extent with Homer Simpson saying “You know, by the guy from Apple Computer,” and the confused looking teenager beyond the music store counter saying “What computers?”

While it wasn’t a straight line to become the massive juggernaut that it is today, you still need to go back to the early history of Apple to more fully understand how they have become who they are now. Apple was originally founded all the way back in 1976 by three men: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak (“The Woz”) and finally, Ronald Wayne. The reason you only know those first two names is Wayne sold his shares back to Jobs and Woz for $800, and Apple would later become incorporated in 1997 with backing from millionaire investor Mike Markkula. (more…)

Do you want to know the history of Apple Computer but find that there are too many places to look at what may or may not be true? Here are some methods to help you find legitimate resources. You’ll learn how to do some research so you can enjoy knowing all you can about Apple.

The key to learning about the history of this kind of computer company is to make sure you research anything that you read about them. Even if you’re on a site where they are supposedly giving you great information, they need to have sources listed and you should be able to click on them. If they lead to pages that are no longer there, you may be able to look at an archived version, so be sure you search for Internet archives and see if plugging in the website works.

Apple is a company that has a lot of people that have worked for it, and you may want to check out interviews with the various people that have held high positions there. Of course, the people talking are going to make it sound the way they want the story to go. When you look into more than one story about it from the top staff of various years, you can get more of a well-rounded understanding of how they were doing business. It’s smarter to learn more than one way to look at a company than to just trust someone that may not be giving you the whole truth.

Apple’s history is vast and there are a lot of people saying a lot of different things about it. You’re going to be able to learn a lot from these methods of research you got information on here. It’s just about taking them and implementing them properly.

Hi there. My name is Thomas and I’ve been a fan of Apple Computer ever since I was a teen. I traded in my Atari 2600 so I could buy an Apple IIe.

I’ve always been fascinated by Apple – their people, their products, and their culture. I’d love to know the inside scoop on how new products were designed, and the movers and shakers that created them. I’ve been reading some great stuff about Apple and thought I would share it here. Stay tuned!